


Take My Hand, I'll Teach You to Dance

by Bookwormpride



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Dancing, F/F, Fluff, Princess Prom (She-Ra), kids with crushes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-08 04:14:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18886975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bookwormpride/pseuds/Bookwormpride
Summary: Adora and Catra and the times they've danced with each other





	Take My Hand, I'll Teach You to Dance

**Author's Note:**

> Suddenly, I'm feeling brave  
> I don't know what's got into me  
> Why I feel this way  
> Can we dance, real slow?  
> Can I hold you  
> Can I hold you close?
> 
> -All About Us, He Is We

“Like this?”

Catra looked up from where her hands rested on Adoras hips uncertainly, waiting for confirmation.

When Adora found out about a thing called _‘dancing’_ from one of the older cadets the first thing she did with the new information after dragging every last detail she could out of the guy, what she did with everything she heard, was to share it with Catra. They had giggled as Adora described what she had learned - how the dancers would hold each other and spin around and sometimes even bend each other backwards or lift each other in the air.

It sounded ridiculous, so of course they knew they had to try it.

“Yeah, I think so?” Adora said, equally unsure. “Now I…”

She put her hands on Catras shoulders, the position felt strange and unnatural but she held it anyway, meeting Catras eyes.

And proceeded to both burst into laughter, the sound echoing in the long empty hallway they had stopped in for their experiment.

“There’s no way people _actually_ do this,” Catra laughed, shoving Adora away playfully.

“No, really!” Adora assured her, putting her hands back on Catras shoulders and attempting to be serious but unable to completely get rid of her grin. “I think we need to get closer.”

They both stepped in until they were chest-to-chest.

“Okay, now what?” Catra asked expectantly.

“Uh… I don’t know,” Adora admitted. “Maybe like…?”

She stepped to the side pulling Catra with her, then back again. It kind of felt right. She looked at their feet, eyebrows knit together in concentration as she led Catra back and forth, slowly turning with each step.

“Is this it?” Catra asked, pulling Adoras attention back to her. They kept swaying.

“Yeah, I think we’re doing it!” Adora said, beaming at their accomplishment.

“This feels dumb,” Catra said, but she didn’t stop.

They continued to rotate, finding an easy rhythm and falling into step with each other as naturally as they did during training exercises, in sync in a way that came from knowing one another for as long as either of the ten year olds could remember.

Adora found her eyes roaming over Catras familiar features - the dusting of freckles over the bridge of her nose, the way her scruffy bangs fell in her face, the curve of her lips. She caught Catras gaze, holding it comfortably with a small smile.

She felt the purring before she heard it, the sound starting deep in Catras chest vibrated against Adoras own, and then she heard the rumble that revealed Catras contentment even when she tried to feign indifference.

Catras cheeks flushed red and Adora felt something stirring in her stomach, a fluttering warmth that made her heart beat quicker and her breath catch in her throat. She could feel her own face heating up and found she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Catras.

Flustered, she missed a step, stomping on Catras bare toes and hearing her give a hiss of pain as Adora began to fall backwards.

Catra caught her - just like she did when Adora stumbled in training, when she tripped while playing tag in the Horde corridors, just like Adora had come to know she would, and just like she always caught Catra in return.

Catras hands spread on Adoras back, stopping her fall, holding her with their faces only inches apart.

Adoras heart raced in her chest, whether from the near-fall or the feeling that had seized her before she wasn’t sure. Their wide eyes met again, stunned for a moment before Catra started to laugh. She lowered Adora gently to the floor and ungracefully plopped down beside her, and soon they were both clutching at their stomachs, doubled over in stitches.

Once they settled down and could look at each other without bursting into giggles they continued on their way to the dining hall where they had been headed before they stopped, but Adora wanted to ask: _can we do it again?_

 

Standing with her hand raised to Catras as the music started Adora wished she could be sure that her heart was racing out of anger and not how good Catra looked in that suit, or how pretty she was in the bluish-purple light, or how _right_ it felt to have Catras hand in hers again.

Circling each other with slow, calculated steps felt eerily similar to the moments before a fight where the opponents sized each other up, except Adora couldn’t determine how dangerous an adversary Catra would be, couldn’t figure out _what_ she was planning even as she knew she was planning _something_.

Spinning onto dance with Glimmer, and then Perfuma, she started to piece together Catras plot. She was furious, a knot of anxiety starting to form in the pit of her stomach as she imagined what could have happened to Bow.

Then Catra spun into her roughly, leaning back against Adoras chest. Adora could feel Catras hair tickling her cheek, the familiar, comforting scent of her so close, her breath ghosting over Adora’s face in a way that made her shiver. She couldn’t help glancing down at Catras lips as she spoke. “Maybe my plan _won’t_ work,” She smirked. “But then again…”

Catra pulled away, turning to Adora and grabbing her by the waist. The next thing Adora knew she was bent backwards, Catra easily supporting her weight as she leaned over her, eyes gleaming with triumph. “Maybe it already has.”

Adora could hear her blood rushing in her ears, louder than the murmur of the dancers around them, louder than the music.

When Catra mentioned Bow Adoras rage ran over and she tackled her, and their dangerous dance turned into a flurry of fists and throws, growls and shouts punctured with baiting words.

Their fights were a dance of their own, and Adora was never sure who was in the lead.

 

Adora knew she should have been more excited then she was, but mostly she just felt _tired_.

The past few weeks had been a blur of planning, fighting, treaty talks, and more planning. Adora was still bruised and sore from the battle against Hordak, and mentally beat from the truce meetings with the remaining Horde members.

Standing at the edge of Brightmoons throne room, wearing a dress at Glimmers insistence, Adora wondered if she was the only one who _wasn’t_ in the mood to celebrate as she watched the party wear on into the night, with subjects from every kingdom, all the princesses, and members of the Horde mingling over finger foods and dancing.

 _It’s really over_ , she thought, watching Lonnie chat with Mermista like they hadn’t been on opposite sides of a war not too long ago.

Her eyes slid across the room until they settled on the one person who looked just as unenthused as she felt - Catra.

She sat at the opposite side of the throne room, Scorpia and Entrapta with her but clearly caught up in their own conversation.

In the past few months Catra had begun to look older, her face sharper and the muscles running under the skin more pronounced, she had become taller - though she had never quite caught up to Adora. Catra was no longer the awkward teenager Adora had been best friends with in the Horde, she was a leader, wearing Hordaks cape that had taken after helping the rebellion defeat him. She was different. Adora guessed she was different too.

But even as they had grown apart there was still a pull to one another that brought them together again and again, and most recently put them back on the same side to defeat a common enemy and end the war.

“You should ask her to dance.”

Angellas voice startled Adora out of her reprieve. The queen had come up beside her and followed her gaze, and now looked at Adora with a knowing smile.

“No,” She scoffed. “No, I don’t really- she wouldn’t want to-” Adora stuttered, face burning.

“As She-Ra it would look good for you to be seen on amicable terms with our new ally,” Angella said, chin raised. “And I believe there are some things you two need to talk about, yes?”

Adora looked back at Catra wistfully and sighed. “Yes,” She agreed.

She hesitated for another moment before crossing the floor to stand in front of Catra. “Dance with me,” She said, leaving no room for refusal as she held out her hand.

“You princesses are so _demanding_ ,” Catra said sarcastically, her eyes shining with amusement. She stood and took Adoras hand.

Finding an empty space on the floor Catra draped her wrists over Adoras shoulders and Adora placed her hands on her hips and they began to sway to the soft music that floated on the air. Adoras eyes darted about, unsure where to look with Catra so close and unsure what to say now that they weren’t fighting.

“So, are all parties in Brightmoon this stuffy?” Catra asked, nodding to a pair of later arrivals bowing to Queen Angella.

“I don’t know, this is the first one I’ve been to,” Adora said. “How are things back in the Fright Zone?”

“Ehh,” Catra shrugged. “We’re cleaning up. I’m thinking of turning Shadow Weavers old room into a garbage disposal, you know, so people can dump their trash there.”

Adora laughed. There was a moment of quiet until she said, “You did the right thing.”

“Turning her room into a garbage disposal?” Catra asked with a quirked eyebrow.

“ _No_ ,” Adora rolled her eyes but smiled. “Overthrowing Hordak. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Catra said firmly. “I did it because he was wrong.”

“I know,” Adora said, meeting Catras eyes with unwavering sincerity. “That’s why it was the right thing.”

Catra blushed and chose that moment to spin Adora to a swell in the music. Adora gave a surprised laugh, dizzy as Catra pulled her back and she stumbled into her chest, a hand coming up to rest below Catras collarbone to steady herself.

Now it was Adoras turn to blush. Catra grinned.

“I guess we’ll be seeing each other more often now,” Catra said nonchalantly.

“When did we ever _not_ see each other? You found me in every battle,” Adora reminded her.

“And I mean, I guess we’ll have to eat at some point, so maybe we could… eat. Together?”

Adora felt her chest squeeze at the idea of sitting down beside Catra for a meal, without animosity or a war between them, just like they used to in the Horde, just like they used to when they were friends.

“Okay, but no mice,” She joked.

“Oh, come on, that was _one time_!” Catra cried indignantly as Adora snickered.

It wasn’t the end of all of their problems, not even close, but as Adora and Catra spent the rest of the party dancing and talking and laughing, it felt like a pretty good start. It felt like maybe she could _finally_ have her best friend back.

 

Adora wasn’t sure if sweating in the desert heat was preferable to freezing in a room made of ice but she did have to admit that the setting moon over the red dunes of the Crimson Waste was a beautiful backdrop for that years All Princess Ball.

It was the first Princess Prom since the war ended, a decade since the prom in the Kingdom of Snows, and the first time in over a century that Scorpias kingdom had hosted.

Scorpia was a zealous, eager host that didn’t care much for the old traditions or etiquette, scooping Adora and Catra up in a bone-crushing hug when they went up to her throne to greet her.

The ball was held in the courtyard outside the palace, gauzy curtains hung from the columns billowing in the gentle breeze, colorful lanterns strung overhead, firepits at the edges of the stone floor illuminating the space in a flickering light as it started to get dark. There was a multitude of foods for every taste, including tiny food specifically for Entrapta.

“I’m _not_ eating that,” Adora refused as Catra offered her a spider on a skewer from the dozen she had in her hand.

Catra shrugged and stuck it in her mouth. “It’s good,” She said.

“You would eat a spider off the floor at home just as happily,” Adora reminded her.

With the last of the guests arriving Scorpia stood up at the front and announced, “Hey everyone! I hope you’re all having a good time, welcome to Scorpion Hill, it’s great to see everyone! Anyway, it’s time for the first dance of the ball! Have fun!”

With cheers of excitement and everyone rushing to the dance floor and looking for a partner, Adora and Catra raised their hands to meet each others between them and the music started up. Adora couldn’t help but grin at the ridiculousness of the choreographed dance as she circled Catra, her other hand tucked behind her back.

Spinning back from a brief dance with Mermista Adora pulled Catra close to her. When Catra dipped her Adora let her head fall back to expose her neck in a way that she knew would drive Catra crazy, grinning mischievously when she took in her flushed face once she was back on her feet.

After the first dance ended they continued on to the next song that played, and it felt like most natural action in the world when Adora rested her cheek on Catras head as they turned in slow circles.

“Scorpia knows how to throw a party,” Catra said, impressed.

“Yeah,” Adora agreed, looking around again.

Bow and Glimmer weren’t far away, standing in a small group with Entrapta, Perfuma, and Sea Hawk. Frosta and her girlfriend danced on the other side of the courtyard and Adora couldn’t help chuckling about how she still often thought of Frosta as the little eleven year old she had met all those years ago despite the fact she was now twenty one. Scorpia had come down from the throne and was dancing with Lonnie - an odd couple at first but they were good for each other. Everyone looked wonderful and happy and almost seemed to glow under the lantern light.

And when Adora pulled back to look at Catra she thought she might have been glowing too with the love that swelled in her chest. Catra was as beautiful as ever in her black suit, her mismatched eyes reflecting the firelight, the freckles across her cheeks darker from years in the sun, her expression softer from her years away from the Horde.

And more then that, they had come so far, from the beginning of the peace treaty, from the last Princess Prom where they had been at each other's throats, from the little kids awkwardly trying to dance in the Fright Zone.

They had overcome every obstacle in their way, even themselves, and come out stronger and happier than Adora would have thought possible.

“Whats that face?” Catra asked, wrinkling her nose suspiciously.

“I love you,” Adora said.

“No, I thought you married me for the tax benefits,” Catra said, feigning irritation. When Adora pouted she snickered. “I love you, too.”

Adora kissed her, and for just a moment everything else fell away and it was just the two of them, holding each other close under the moonlight as they swayed.


End file.
